Businessmen say gov’t can still expand achievement list

Several business groups urged the outgoing administration to accomplish a few more items on top of the achievements economic managers cited in an investors’ briefing on Wednesday. The groups called on the government to deliver on issues ranging from solutions to the current power shortage, drafting of an industry development roadmap, and even a more general turnaround in how the international community perceives Philippine competitiveness. "The President was quite clear that we’ve had steady growth, and adequate international reserves [among other accomplishments]," Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Francis C. Chua told reporters after the briefing. "But one of the bigger issues we’ve had has always been electricity. This is something investors are quite worried about," he pointed out. He lauded stopgap attempts to repair plants and prevent rotating blackouts, but said new investments had to be encouraged to address future power requirements. "I would also like to see steady government policy," Chua added, noting the business community’s apprehension over the government’s recent decision to retroactively tax Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. He conceded, however, that the administration had not much time left — roughly four months — and would not be able to commit to anything long term. The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), meanwhile, reiterated the need for a development strategy for industries, which Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila had acknowledged in his speech. Favila said he was proposing to create an "industrial development office" within his department that would take charge of drafting such plan. "That’s good news. It should be comprehensive but coherent," Mario Jose E. Sereno, head of the FPI’s international trade policy committee, said on the sidelines of the briefing. "And any industrial planning should consist of short-, medium- and most importantly, long-term [targets]. We hope this will lead to genuine strategic planning that will involve meaningful private sector participation," he added. Business Processing Association of the Philippines President Oscar R. Sañez, for his part, sought government support in marketing the outsourcing sector’s services to foreign clients. The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, for its part, offered more general prescriptions. "It was good to hear the administration’s accomplishments but on the other hand, there is plenty of data to show the Philippines is not realizing its potential," said John D. Forbes, head of the group’s legislative committee.